Sustainability
The World Commission on the Environment and Development defines sustainability as "meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".
This is nothing new to farmers. Maori have farmed in New Zealand for hundreds of years and Pakeha for almost two centuries. Farmers get their hands dirty. Farmers are an integral part of New Zealand's cultural identity and economic well being. Farming is for generations.
Farms are both a living ecosystem and a business. Unlike most other businesses, failure to farm in harmony with the environment will eventually collapse productivity and result in the failure of any farm business. We need and want to harvest the garden for ongoing generations.
Federated Farmers sees sustainability as achieving positive environmental outcomes with profitability and economic wellbeing. These are not mutually exclusive yet the concept of sustainability is increasingly skewed away from taking economic considerations into account. We want to see a collaborative approach to better defining and balancing economic and environmental considerations, including the development of scientifically verified metrics for sustainability.
Farmers care deeply about the environment, the welfare of their animals and the legacy they will leave for the next generation of farmers. Farmers have their hands in the soil. They don't work in an office. They work out among the elements, the rain, the sunshine, on their land. They understand the challenges of our topography, our climate, and how they can best work with nature to produce food and fibre. For generations they have wanted to contribute to the success of New Zealand and its economic and social wellbeing, and they do. This explains why New Zealand's on-farm productivity has only ever increased. Farms are truly sustainable in their very operation for they have always allowed future generations to meet their own needs.
Federated Farmers wants
-A collaborative approach with Federated Farmers to defi ne economic and environmental considerations for New Zealand
- Scientifi cally verifi ed metrics of sustainability for New Zealand
-The international effect of policies to support sustainability is assessed before adoption
- The economic viability of farming to be given equal weight in policy setting to environmental factors
- Financial support for Federated Farmers' efforts on sustainability.
Spokesperson
Federated Farmers Rural Security spokesperson is national board member Ian MacKenzie, you can contact him at imackenzie@fedfarm.org.nz.
